| Elements of
magick
Magick has often been defined as an art but seldom as a science.
In reality it is both: an art because it is the expression
of human ingenuity in adapting natural things to man's use,
and also a science, because it is knowledge attained through
study and practice.
Before the magician can shape the world according to his desires
he must undergo lengthy and careful training. The esoteric
schools, occult societies, primitive initiations, and long
periods of apprenticeship that are absolute requirements for
many magickal groups are the equivalent of the concentrated
courses of study demanded by major universities before they
confer a degree. Although there are persons who are naturally
gifted with psychic powers, they still must learn how to direct
and concentrate their will in order to practice magick effectively.
Misdirected or uncontrolled power can be very dangerous and
can result in severe damage both to the personality and the
physical welfare of the magician. The psychic energies released
by the practitioner of magick must be effectively directed
and earthed. Otherwise they will try to manifest themselves
on their own, and sine they are blind, instinctual forces
they will often do so in completely unexpected and terrifying
ways. For this reason, self-control is one of the most rigid
demands of magic and to acquire it the would-be magician must
be subjected to rigorous trials. Primitive initiation rites
are examples of the severe tests to which the magician must
submit themself before they can practice magick effectively
and without fear.
The dangers of practicing magick are quite real because the
forces that are the plastic moulds of the magician's will
are an inherent part of the mind and of nature. The magickal
premises are far from being false. They are not the result
of faulty logic on the part of the magician but rather an
accurate adaptation of natural laws to the workings of magick.
Frazer, for example, whose famous work "The Golden Bough"
has become a classic on primitive magick, considers magick
to be a "false science and an abortive art". Although
his analysis of the principles of magick is essentially correct,
his comprehension of the true meaning of magick falls wide
of the mark, for magick as a science is based on the Laws
of Nature, which are immutable and eternal. No amount of scholarly
speculation is going to affect the Law of Gravity or the Laws
of Adhesion and Cohesion, or the affinity between positive
and negative poles, and these are precisely some of the Laws
upon which magickal scientific premises are based. Likewise,
magick as an art is not subject to the whims of the magician.
Nothing will happen in the material world, magic or no magick,
which is not in accordance with the Laws of Nature. To adhere
to these laws is the constant care of the magician, for to
break a natural Law can result in total spiritual and mental
disintegration.
What the magician does that scholars do not like is to anthropomorphise
the forces of nature, identifying them as gods or spirits.
This is done purposely to absorb these forces into the magickal
personality, the better to control them. The primitive sorcerer
does this instinctively; the serious student of magick, consciously.
But both the educated and uneducated practitioners of magick
are concerned with the same thing - to control nature and
subject it to their will. Without proper control there is
no magick, only trouble.
The period of study for the true magician lasts a lifetime.
This, which modern occultists call "the great work",
is never really completed on this earth. Even when a magician
reaches the apotheosis of knowledge and power, achieves his/her
greatest aspiration and becomes one with God, they must still
continue working, this time for the benefit of creation as
a whole.
During the first stages of a person's training in magic they
are a neophyte or beginner, till outside the temple's doors.
(The temple in this sense means the edifice of esoteric or
secret knowledge.) As the studies continue and the neophyte's
awareness increases, the door of the mysteries opens for them
and they then undergo the first of many initiations. From
this moment onward they are known as an Initiate in the Mysteries.
Sometimes a person may decide to study magick on their own,
perhaps because they are unable to find a suitable teacher
or an esoteric group to their liking or perhaps because they
are meant to be alone. In this case, what are magickally known
as "hidden masters" are believed to come to the
help of this lone individual and guide them telepathically
during their studies. These masters exist in what are known
as the inner planes, and are advanced souls who have chosen
to forego their right to spiritual bliss in order to teach
and guide those individuals starting on the magickal path.
When the time comes, this learner is directed from the inner
planes in choosing the appropriate initiation into the mysteries.
At other times, when a person is seeking magickal knowledge
and is unsure about where they should start, these same masters
will direct them to a suitable teacher or group on earth.
The meeting between teacher and disciple will take place in
what might be called a coincidental manner. All magicians
know, however that there are no coincidences in the physical
or spiritual worlds, and that all so-called fortuitous happenings
are in reality predesigns of the all-seeing cosmic forces.
Shortly before he died, Jung had been busy studying what he
called "synchronicity", a human phenomenon that
explained the occurrence of coincidental happenings as the
result of the interrelation of cosmic forces in the time-space
continuum, a part of the unconscious that blends past, present
and future into eternity.
Many years after the first initiation, and after many years
of practical work in magick, the initiate finally becomes
an adept. This means they have realised their Will and found
true knowledge. The adept is a wise, highly spiritualised
human being who is nevertheless in total control of the material
world. As an individual they have perfect mental, physical
and spiritual balance. They never loses control, because their
personality has been synthesised into perfect equilibrium.
The process of magickal training is very similar to the process
of psychoanalysis, which aims at the harmonious balance of
the psychic elements within an individual. The difference
with magick is that it constantly searches for synthesis,
not only within the mind and soul of the magician but also
without, in nature and the material world. The magician seeks
correspondences and identification between themselves and
everything that exists. When they achieve this identification
the magickal process is completed and they are a wo/man of
power; they have realised the god within themselves.
| Authors
Details: From "The Complete Book of Spells,
Ceremonies and Magick" by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler |
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